Toasted Walnut Spinach Pesto Pasta

We are just about to wrap up our two week trip at our home away from home in the mountains. At the start of out vacation we were welcomed by a huge order or fresh and fabulous food delivered by Black Canyon Foods. This was my first time ordering from these folks and this must happen every visit to Colorado. In our order was a Cilantro Pesto sauce that was gone in seconds. It was time to make my own version!

With just a few items left in the fridge and pantry I put myself up to the challenge of using up every last bit of what we have left. I refuse to waste food, sooooo with a heap of baby spinach, toasted walnuts, parmesan and olive oil our pesto sauce was put together in minutes.

My kids and husband love this curly swirly rainbow hued pasta. It is an irresistible subject for photography.

Grab a few handfuls of baby spinach to get a dazzling green color…

What is not to love about a sauce that can be whizzed up in seconds in your food processor? The ingredients don’t need to be fussy or carefully measured out. Choose you greens, nuts and cheese according to what you have lying around. No heat required.

You can easily make this a grain free or gluten free meal by simply omitting the pasta. I enjoy my pesto spooned over fried eggs, which makes this a low carb-grain free meal. I also toss a few spoonfuls in my salads as a dressing. You can thin it out with more olive oil if you wish.

Pesto with quinoa or gluten free pasta is wonderfully tasty too. Toss in some chunks of grilled chicken, slabs of seared tuna or tofu for extra protein.

We love coming into hearty, healthy meals after hitting it hard on the slopes.

Serve hot, cold or anywhere in between.

Do you have a favorite pesto recipe? What ingredients do you add to yours?

Lay nuts on a cookie sheet in a single layer and bake for about 10 minutes in a 350 degree F oven. They are ready when fragrant and slightly browned.

Pesto

Whiz all ingredients up in a high powered blender or food processor. Pesto will stay fresh in the fridge for a few days. Store in a tightly sealed container with some plastic wrap over the top of the pesto to help prevent browning.

Notes

This recipe is simple to make in a Big Batch, simply adjust ingredients in the using the same ratios.

Pecorino Romano or any other firm cheese would be great in this as well.

Adjust you ingredients to taste, feel free to experiment with different nuts, seeds, cheeses and flavored oils.

This looks great! Spinach is one of my favorite foods just because it’s so versatile. It can go into sweet smoothies, sautéed, raw in salads and on sandwiches, and made into pesto. Really, what can’t you do with Spinach? We buy it by the box in our house.

I’ve thought of you often over the past couple of weeks, knowing you are in your favorite place in the world. This looks like a wonderful meal to come home to after a day of skiing or snowshoeing. You just can’t beat homemade pesto.

Thanks for the link, Marla! Your photos are gorgeous. I also have to put in a plug for pounding pestos in a mortar and pestle. My 5-year old daughter LOVES to do it, and it doesn’t take that much more time than a food processor. In fact, there have been many times when I’ve intended to whiz, but my daughter is so enthusiastic about “helping” me in the kitchen that I pull out the mortar and pestle and let HER make the pesto instead!